Act of Valor has an unusual backstory. The film, directed by Mike “Mouse” McCoy and Scott Waugh, started out as a training video for Navy SEALS. The Navy liked what they saw so much that they decided to turn it into a documentary.

Then, they decided to make a feature, and hired screenwriter Kurt Johnstad (300) to create a fictional story about a squad that goes on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent.

Another interesting aspect of the upcoming feature, which will hit theaters on February 17, is that the SEALS are played by actual SEALS. The bad guys, however, are played by actors, including Emilio Rivera and Roselyn Sanchez.

This sort of thing has worked before. And thanks to the SEALs’ new place in the national consciousness post-Bin Laden, there are bound to be curiosity-seekers swinging by the theater who might not have bitten on this last year. Exit question: How much at the box office? Over/under is $50 million.

Update: Commenters are wondering whether the Navy put up the money — i.e. our money — to bankroll this. Good question. Maybe that’s the way we’ll finally eliminate the deficit. All Obama needs to do is finance ten or twenty thousand superhero blockbusters and we’re out of the fiscal hole.

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Pretty good. I can’t wait for the Killing Bin Laden movie to come out – the one where the SEAL who kills OBL just happens to be (in screenwriter’s logic) the son of an FDNY captain who fell leading his men on 9/11.

Check out the new French movie “Forces Especiales” too – it has Diane Kruger in it!

The best war movie ever is a Russian movie called “Come and See”, which is a magical realism look at the partisan war in Belorussia in 1943 (the protagonist goes mad as a result) – the last quarter or so of the film shows the SS destroying a Belorussian village and killing all the inhabitants (the Nazis did this more than 600 times in Belorussia).

The movie is close to unwatchable, but if you want to see war in its purest form – the war on the Eastern Front – that is the movie to see.

This might be a bit inside baseball, but the military tech crowd is going to go berserk analyzing this movie. I can tell just from the trailer that seeing the load-outs and the optics up-close used by the special-ops guys is an exceptionally rare thing.

And if that UAV and other (satellite?) footage is real too, that’s a big deal.

So they won’t show the faces of the team that killed OBL, but they will show half a dozen faces in this movie? Maybe that is not as big a deal as I think, or maybe it is worth the benefit from having a patriotic movie made.

Good question. Are you and I paying for this too?
Knucklehead on October 14, 2011 at 8:36 PM

If we can pay for Obama’s fundraisers, why would you have a problem with this…
I bet the film makes a profit, and this is the only pro military pro American film to come out in I don’t know
How long. Leave it alone.
idesign on October 14, 2011 at 8:56 PM

It’s pretty common for the DOD to help out filmmakers, as you can see by the credits on most war movies. Though on this on I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some controversy. Not just because it’s a “war movie”, which the left hates, but I suspect there will be questions about the process involved in it’s making.

Dittos. Best ever. Although I have a personal affection for Guadalcanal Diary. I worked civil service at an Army fort with a bunch of guys who were there. They were just like the characters in the movie, Tex, Dutch, Sarge, Frosty, Homer and Major Kelly… What a great bunch of guys.

Update: Commenters are wondering whether the Navy put up the money — i.e. our money — to bankroll this. Good question. Maybe that’s the way we’ll finally eliminate the deficit. All Obama needs to do is finance ten or twenty thousand superhero blockbusters and we’re out of the fiscal hole.

Jack Campbell already covered that in the SciFi book Starks War. The US government “paid” for the cost of the war on the moon by using raw real time footage from the troops helmet cameras. And they made enough money to finance the war effort, but only if there was enough action.

Jack Campbell already covered that in the SciFi book Starks War. The US government “paid” for the cost of the war on the moon by using raw real time footage from the troops helmet cameras. And they made enough money to finance the war effort, but only if there was enough action.

Johnnyreb on October 14, 2011 at 9:35 PM

That was a good book. Haven’t read it in awhile might have to see if I still have it.

I would love to this movie gross about 18,000 bazillion bucks, leaving all the Hollywood directors and stars to make a decision straight up whether they want to starve for their leftist beliefs, or make movies that show Americans as good as most of them really are. Of course, once the market sees one of those movies, it could be game over for the typical leftist anti-American dreck we have had to endure for so many years.

Dear Hollywood, have a nice day, just not too many more of them, okay?

“Tora, Tora, Tora” for historical accuracy, fine acting and especially for using actual Japanese in the Japanese roles; their different body language added a lot to the movie’s feeling of authenticity.

There was an Australian war movie from back in the 70′s called “Breaker Morant”, a true story about Major Harry Morant, an Aussie fighting in Boer Wars in South Africa. Savage hit-and-run guerrilla fighting was the order of the day and Morant was put on trial for his life for adapting the same tactics in response. The setting is Morant’s war crimes trial and the story is told in flashbacks. It has a lot to say about the nature of war, politics and morality. Great flick and well worth checking out.

I would love to this movie gross about 18,000 bazillion bucks … – Drunyan

“Lone Survivor” would!

I’d love to see a movie made about Air Force Combat Controller Calvin Markham, calling in airstrikes on al qaeda, turning them into pink mist, killing taliban by the thousands. “Jawbreaker” is an excellent book for the screenplay. TSgt Markham holds the record for killing the most enemy, 3,500 a.q. and taliban, and 450 vehicles.

“Tora, Tora, Tora” for historical accuracy, fine acting and especially for using actual Japanese in the Japanese roles; their different body language added a lot to the movie’s feeling of authenticity.
PersonFromPorlock on October 14, 2011 at 9:47 PM

One of those films I have to watch every now and then cause it’s so good – and I’m generally not much for the war movie genre. That it was a joint US-Japan production really made it a great movie.

Good question. Are you and I paying for this too?
Knucklehead on October 14, 2011 at 8:36 PM

yes

when they filmed “Top Gun” my squadron provided the office space, flightline and the birds that flew for that movie one of our birds 426 was tweeked so badly it could no longer be used for carrier landings.

“Top Gun” took in worldwide box office total of $353,816,701.00 odds are the Navy will get it’s money back on this movie.

Hamburger Hill just for that scene where the withjournalist says Sentor Kennedy says you can’t take this Hill, and they reply F Kennedy and then threatens the reporter that if he sees him film on the Hill he will kill him.

The Gallant Hours with James Cagney not a lot of action but very good, tells the story of guadalcanal.

I Haven’t been to the theater in 5 years, but I’ll go to see this one.

I’ll go with the over on $50M, and I think it might hit $100M but there’ll never be a profit. Hollywood movies never make a profit. If the Navy’s fronting the money, there had better have asked for a % of revenue.

Best War movie ever? I don’t know enough of this to even call it a “war” movie. Anyway, one of my favorites is The Lost Battalion.

Update: Commenters are wondering whether the Navy put up the money — i.e. our money — to bankroll this. Good question. Maybe that’s the way we’ll finally eliminate the deficit. All Obama needs to do is finance ten or twenty thousand superhero blockbusters and we’re out of the fiscal hole.

Not necessarily – well …

A military service member works for the taxpayer – so when you see them in a movie – you’re paying their salary. However, technically you pay them for a 24 hour day so you’re also paying them to sleep.

However – productions costs MAY NOT have come from the Navy. I’ve seen the Navy enter into “partnerships” with private businesses to do this kind of thing. I don’t know the specifics here – but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually produced by someone in Hollywood … who picked up at least some of the tab and will end up sharing in some of the profit.

I will say this though – if your kid sees this movie and wants to be a Navy SEAL – let them know the dropout rate in BUDS is about 75% for kids walking in off the streets. Anyone who really thinks they want to be a SEAL – needs to find one and talk to one. Virginia, Millington, TN, and San Diego are good places to find them – and it’s worth it to put a kid on a bus to go visit one before he goes down this road.

I forgot to add Machine gun Preacher true story of a Preacher in Sudan that takes up arms in order to save/rescue children that are to become Soldiers And that movie deals with the Lord’s Resistance Army. Since Obama sent troops to deal with these guys I thought it should be added.

However – productions costs MAY NOT have come from the Navy. I’ve seen the Navy enter into “partnerships” with private businesses to do this kind of thing. I don’t know the specifics here – but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually produced by someone in Hollywood … who picked up at least some of the tab and will end up sharing in some of the profit.
HondaV65 on October 14, 2011 at 10:30 PM

From the link in a comment above by
warren on October 14, 2011 at 9:35 PM
to Blackfive’s blog:
“My understanding of the evolution of this project is that NSW began working with Bandido Brothers on this as a brief recruiting video similar to this one that they did for the SWCC guys. At some point, NSW determined that there was potential here for a full length feature film that would essentially provide a “Top Gun” type analogue for the Teams to really juice recruiting, but without all of the gay Tom Cruise histrionics. I am not completely sure why the Navy let this happen, and my assumption is that there were strong personalities behind this that got it approved. I am also not sure whether or not it should have been made. The guys in the film would say the same thing as they all refused to do it for almost a year before the powers that be in NSW impressed upon them that they would be doing something important for the Teams.”

There was an Australian war movie from back in the 70′s called “Breaker Morant”, a true story about Major Harry Morant, an Aussie fighting in Boer Wars in South Africa. Savage hit-and-run guerrilla fighting was the order of the day and Morant was put on trial for his life for adapting the same tactics in response. The setting is Morant’s war crimes trial and the story is told in flashbacks. It has a lot to say about the nature of war, politics and morality. Great flick and well worth checking out.
tommyboy on October 14, 2011 at 9:48 PM

One of the BlackFive guys, who is friends with several of the SEALs in the movie and has screened the entire movie, said that everything is real, except for the scene where the guy catches the dead guy before he hits the water. They even used live ammunition.

It says the movie was meant to “juice” recruiting for the Teams – that may be … but kids need to be careful about falling in love with the Teams in the theater – there is still at least a 75% dropout rate for kids coming into BUDS training right off the street.

I was Navy for 24 years. I remember how supposedly “black” projects suddenly saw the light of day when their funding was threatened. It could be that NSW sees some budget cutbacks for the DoD in the future – and are hedging their bets now so that they don’t take any.

At first I thought this was really really cool. And yeah, I am certain I will go see it. But why are we showing such realistic tactics with real Seals in a major motion picture?

Is this a movie or is it a training film for our enemies?

JellyToast on October 15, 2011 at 8:08 AM

Of one thing you can be certain. Our military doesn’t give away the goods this way. Whatever tactics are shown are already known. We won’t teach our enemies through a theater. Only our President gives away when he’s going to engage or disengage, the boots on the ground have brains.